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COLUMBUS 



GEOGRAPIiEliS OF THE XORTH. 



n 



REV. B. F. DeCOSTA, 

Author of " The Pre-Columbian Discover!/ nf Ameriea by the Xorthmen: 



(Ill)e (lli)urfl) Iprcss: 

M. H. MALLOHY AXD COMPANY, HARTFORD, CONN. 

1872. 



COLUMBUS 



GEOGEAPIIERS OF THE NORTH. 



9 L 



BY rH^';> ' 

REV. B\ F. PeCOSTA, 

Author of •• The Pre-Columbian Discotery of America by the Northmen." 




<l\)t C!ll)uicl) press: 

M. H. MALLOKV AND COMPANY, HARTFORD. CONN. 

1872. 

V--- V,. . -■■'■^ . 



.D37 



COLUMBUS AND 



THE GEOGRAPHERS OF THE 
NORTH. 



THAT belief of the ages, according to which Hebrew literature 
was the oldest extant, and which held that the Hebrew lan- 
guage was the most original gift of God, has only within a compar- 
atively recent period passed away. The superior antiquity of the 
Sanscrit tongue was at the outset the subject of grave European 
doubts ; while one of the ablest British critics found in the venerable 
literary treasures of India nothing but the results of an " arch for- 
ger's" fraud. It is therefore not at all remarkable that scholars felt 
a certain degree of surprise, when the Old Northern or Icelandic liter- 
ature was drawn out frc)m its ol)Scure alcoves, and presented to the 
world, marked with all those grand characteristics of lofty genius 
which constitute the Edda and Heimskringla, like the Iliad and 
^neid, works of world-wide interest and importance for all time. 
Aye, more. Iceland possessed not only a literature, but an historical 
literature ; and now, having learned that there were letters before 
Moses, students were called to acknowledge the fiict that there were 
navigators before Columbus; and sailors in American waters, even, 
long before the Genoese had seen the sea. At first there was a stout 
revolt. The Sagas of Eric, like the Vedas of India, were " modern 
frauds." Yet, in the end, reason prevailed, and no respectable his- 
torical wi-iter to-day disfigures his page with doubts, all lieiug utterly 



4 Columbus and the Gboghaphers of the North. 

at Joss to explain why the broad Atlantic should have remained 
so many ages, without ever once having its blue bosom furrowed 
by a keel. 

Yet we are nevertheless surprised to find that even down to the 
tenth century the American continent remained a mystery ; espe- 
cially since ^vhat we call the New World is, in reality, the Old, this 
continent being the scene of life while the present area of Europe 
was a watery waste. But those primeval days l^eai- no date, and the 
mountains alone are their monuments. Down to the tenth centurv 
the American continent boasted no written history. Concern- 
ing earlier ages, tradition itself is almost dumb. Of events that 
transpired after this portion of the glol)e became the haljitation 
of man, no one can speak with any certainty. We can onlv 
infer that age aftei- age families and tribes rose to greatness, 
and then fell into decline; barbarism and a rude civilization 
holding alternate sway. We do not even know how the continent 
was peopled, though the imagination of the ethnologist has often 
kindled over the theme. For instance, what a charm lingers 
around the supposed voyages of the Phcenician and Tyrian. Some- 
times they appear sailing forth from the Pillars of Hercules with 
splendidly erpiipped fleets, steering confldently for the golden West ; 
and again it is the story of the solitary bark driven by storms across 
the sea. Others tell us the story of Asiatic emigrations by the way 
of Behring's Straits, while a bolder tlieory presents the picture of a 
less venturesome people passing over the Atlantic to the West on a 
In-idge of beautiful isles, long since drowned beneath the waves. Af- 
terward, coming down into the days of Eoman greatness, or later, 
into the splendid age of Charlemagne, we are told of tliose who sail 
trustingly for the Isles of the Blessed, and the Fountains of Eternal 
Youth. In due time the then Ultima Thnle itself is passed, and 
favoring gales bear the mariner to wondrous lands, where he coasts 
from cajie to cape, and from sheltered inlet to sunny bay, everywhere 
gazing upon marvels, trafiieking with bronzed natives, and giving 
curious wares for ba;rbaric gold, and then shaping his course again 
for the distant East, to pour the strange tale into incredulous ears. 

The ancients appear to have been in as much doubt as ourselves. 
The great Atlantic was to them the Sea of Darkness, along whose 
mysterious border was stretched an impenetralsle pall. In the fourth 
century, b.c, Theopompus thought that there might be a vast island 
lying far to the west. Plato was familiar with the idea of the A tlantis, 
which, according to the Priests of Isis, had sunk beneath the sea ; 
and Homer sang of the Elysium in the West. We touch the solid 



Columbus yuvn the Geoghaphers of the North. 5 

ground, liuwever, wlieii we come to the Plui'iiiciaii eoinniuiiieatioii 
with tlie British Isles; yet a loiigperiodinterveues before we reach 
the history of Scandinavian entei'prise, wliicli carried tlie Northmen 
to Iceland and Greenland, and afterward to the coast of America. 
But when this point is reached, there can be no room for doubt. 

Ot the Northmen themselves we need to say but little here. Much 
less sliall we be obliged to speak of their general literature', though 
it will be necessary to discuss the character of the historical Sagas. 
As regards the Old Northern race, we need oidy to remember the tact 
of their early eastern origin, and their great force of character ; for 
the bold and enterprising spirit of these Scandinavians made them 
everywhere known. In the East they founded the empire of Rus- 
sia ; in Constantinople they supported the Greek Emperor's totter- 
ing throne ; and in England they dictated language to a court that 
might have ]')erished but for the prestige which it won from their 
swords. The Northmen, whose descendants but recently threatened 
to reduce all France to ashes, were a haixly, progressive, and enliglil- 
ened race, who in times of peace could set no liounds to their mara- 
time activity, and, eonse<]uently, were seen throwing their flag to the 
breeze on eveiT sea. Nevertheless, we ought to state the special rea- 
sons which led them to carry their power so far into the frozen North. 

It appears that, in Norway, King Harold Harfagr (the Fair- 
haired) attempted to deprive the petty jarls of certain ancient 
feudal rights, and usurp them for the benefit of the crown. But to 
this degradation they would not submit. In the eyes of their 
retainers, they would appear as slaves. Many, thci'efore, resolved 
to leave the lands and homes which they could no longer call their 
own. But where should they go \ 

This point was quickly settled ; for as early as the year SOii a 
great island had been found by the mai-iner, named Gardar, whose 
discovery, four years later, was reaffirmed by the pirate Nadodd. 
Toward this wild and inhospitable land, with a surface of ice and 
bowels of fire, tlie first Northmen, led by one Ingolf, took their 
way. Approaching the coast in the year 875, he threw overboard 
his seat-])osts (SetstaJchar), carved with the images of Odin and Thor. 
To these seat-posts or pillars, we find an allusion in Frithiofs Saga : 

" Through the whole length of the hall shone forth the taljle of oak wood, 
Brigliter than steel, and polished ; the pillnrx ticnin of the high seals 
Stood on each side thereof ; two gods deep carved out of Elm wood : 
Odin with glance of a King, and Frey with the Sun on his forehead." 



'This subject was treated by the writer, in " The American C'hurcli Review " 
for April, 1872. 



6 Columbus and the Geographers of the North. 

It was understood by the ^Northmen, that wherever these twin 
pillars landed, they were to form the settlement. But in the present 
ease, the gods were not propitious, for the sacred pillars drifted away 
fi'om sight. The colonists, nevertheless, landed on a pleasant prom- 
ontory, in the southeast part of the island, where they remained 
three yeai-s. At the end of this time the pillars were found, and 
they removed to the location thus indicated by the tardy supernals, 
laying the foundations of Reikiavik, the present capital of Iceland. 

At tlieir approach, the pious monks from Ireland, who had pi'e- 
viously come here to be alone with God, fled in great haste, forsak- 
ing both bell and l)ook, and leaving to the Xoi'thmen the midisputed 
possession of the soil. Here this liberty-loving people formed a 
community, which gradually shaped itself into an aristocratic repub- 
lic, framed its own laws, and for a long period maintained a genuine 
independence. 

In the beginning of tlie tenth century, Iceland possessed a popu- 
lation of many thousand souls, the descendants, for the most part, of 
the best Norwegian and Danish families, and not of pirates and rob- 
bers, as some have imagined to be the case. Indeed, a pirate flag 
probably never flew in an Icelandic port, whatever may be said of 
the vikings and plunderers of the mainland ; while, in respect to 
mere combative propensities, it may also be remembered that the 
duel was abolished by law in Iceland eight hundred and six years 
before England had erased it from her statutes, where it was recog- 
nized as a part of the judicial process. 

But even in Iceland tliese men could not be idle, for, in the year 
876, Gunnbiorn, Ulf Krage's son, found land at the west. Thither 
one Eric, called the Red, took his way, in the year 983, having been 
banished from Iceland on account of a crime. The land to which 
he went, and where he remained in exile three years, he called 
Greenland, as he said, to attract people thither.' 

On his return to Greeidand, a.d. 08.5, he carried with him a nu- 
merous body of emigrants, who founded those colonies which main- 
tained tlieir existence for several hundred years. These colonies were 

' It is a curious fact, at the present time unexplained, that in the work of Pon- 

tanus, entitled "Rerum Danicorutn Hutoria," there is given a copy of a Papal Bull 
of the date of A.D, 8^5, which makes a distinct allusion to the Greenlanders. In 
the third narrative of Eric the Red, who has always been credited with the naming 
of Greenland, we find it told that, on his arrival, he saw "ruins of houses and 
pieces of boats, and begun stone work." These remains were attributed to the 
savage people of the land, whom they called " Skroellings." Possibly, these 
were the remains of previous European visitors, whose voyages had been over- 
looked. See " Pre-Columbian Discovery of America," p. 21. 



Columbus and the Geoghai'hers of the Noktii. 7 

located on the west shore of that cuntinent, and not upon tlie east. 
and formed the base of all operations in connection with the explora- 
tions of America. 

Having thus briefly disposeil of tliese ])i'eliminarie.s, let us next 
glance at the character of tlie writings which contain tlie accounts 
of their explorations along our coasts. 

In connection with this ])oint, howevei', we have to i-emark, tliat 
tliere is no inherent improbability as regards the alleged voyages to 
America. It is true, as we have already seen, that a class of minds 
biassed by early and superficial geographical teaching, and dazed b)- 
the story of Columbus, incline almost instinctively to regard any 
prior voyages as quite impossible, if not absurd. Yet when we are 
assured that the Xorthineu dwelt in Greenland for more than three 
hundred years, and that, in going hither from Norway and Iceland, 
they passed within a few days' sail of the American coast, the sub- 
ject appears in a very difierent light ; and, on tlie whole, we incline 
to believe that these roving, adventurous peoj^le not only w;,«y, 
but that they must have discovered the land h'ing toward the south. 
A failure in this respect would have been something surjjrising. 

But in the present case much depends upon the age and authen- 
ticity of the manuscripts. Are these, then, reliable, and do they 
behjiig to the Pre-Columbian age '. 

That this is so, has been abundantly proved, especialh' as we have 
duplicate narratives of the most important voyage, one of which was 
compiled in Greenland, aiul the other in Iceland ; while at the .same 
time they abound in those delicate and yet undesigned coinci- 
dences which have the greatest weight with critical minds. The 
nari-atives are not " mythological in form," as one early and preju- 
diced writer aftirmed, nor are they of the same class as the stories of 
St. Brandan's Isle, as "Washington Irving imagined, when writing 
his life of Columbus, jy«o^ to the publication of the Sagas hj the 
Xortheru antiquaries. Nor, again, ai-e they prose versions of old 
historical songs, as another writer suggested. The highest critical 
ability lias pronounced them genuine historical compositions. In- 
deed, the time for scepticism on these points has now passed away.' 

' Any one desiring to look into the aspect of the question may consult a mono- 
graph by the present writer, entitled " Notes on a Heview of the Pre-Columbian 
Discovery of America by the Northmen, in the North American Review," Adver- 
tiser Press, 18G9. This little pul>lication forms the only treatment of the subject 
of which the writer has any knowledge. It may hn remarked here, however, that 
while many early prose histories of diSerent countrii'S existed originally in the 
form of verse, such was not the case with those Icelandic Sagas, wliich tell the 
story of Pre-Columbian discovery. Icelandic prose is the earliest modern vernac- 



8 Columbus and the Geographers of the North. 

Then as regards the date of the Sagas which relate to the discov- 
ery of America, we have positive information, and know that the 
present rnanuscript styled Codex Flatoiensis, was finished as early 
as the year 1395. The collection is now in Copenhagen, whither it 
was carried, after its recovery in Iceland. No one who apjweciates 
the gigantic difficulties uf the case, could for a moment view such a 
work as a forgery ; while unprejudiced minds everywhere recognize 
the justice and candor of Palfrey, who says of the Icelandic records : 
"Their antiquity and genuineness apjjear to he well estaljlished, nor 
is there anything to bring their credibility into question, beyond the 
general doubt which attaches to what is new or strange."* 

It is, indeed, too late to think even of defending these venerable 
writings. We therefore beg no place for the Northmen. They 
can win their oion place, as of old ; a fact that appears the more 
gratifying, when we remember that this is an age in which much 
that has heretofore been accepted as truth is being dismissed to the 
realms of hoary table, and all the annals of the past are being studied 
with true aims and a pure zeal. 

Leaving this aspect of the question, let us now pass on to con- 
sider what the Northmen actually accomplished in the way of dis- 
covery. And at the very outset we are struck with the fact that the 
Icelandic discovery of the North American continent was, like that 
of the Southern, purely accidental. Cabral, in the year 1500, was 
blown upon the coast of South America, while Biarne Heriulfson, 
in the year OSG, drifted in sight of the North American coast ; a very 
feeble beginning, indeed, for an Icelandic forger, writing either to 
detract from the fame of Cloumbus, or to advance the credit of his 
own people. 

The date of Biarne's adventure is not stated by the narrative, but 
we are nevertheless able to fix the year, from the fact that it occur- 
red the season following the departure of the colonists with Eric 
the Red, which took place fifteen years before the establishment of 
Christianity in Iceland, or a.d. 1000. The narrative is too long for 
insertion here, and we are therefore obliged to state that bad weather 
drove Biarne upon a coast about eight days' sail from Greenland, 
which place he reached by coasting north again, with the land upon 
the left hand. This land could, of course, have been no other than 

lar prose. The British Ormulum, which was supposed to be prose, until the year 
1775, when Tyrwhitt pointed out the fact that it was verse, belongs to the begin- 
ning of the thirteenth century ; which indicates how far this supposed prose falls- 
behind the date of the old Icelandic compositions. 
' " History of New England," vol. ii. p. .53. 



COLVMBVS AXD THE GEOGRAPUEHS OF THE NoRTll. 9 

the continent of America, which was seen three times in tlie course 
of the return voyage. 

But the question of tlie new land was not destined to rest where 
Biarne left it ; for the story told of the pleasant, wooded country at 
the south was treasured ujj in the recollections of the people, and in 
due time led to a voyage of exploration. This, however, did not take 
place until about fifteen years afterward, though it was while Eric 
the Red, who brought the colonists into Greenland, was yet alive. 
By an accident, the aged Eric was prevented from going himself, and 
the expedition was led bj' his son Leif, who had one small vessel, 
probably only partially decked over, and thirty-five men. Having 
left Greenland, they sailed south, imtil they came to a land where 
there were "large snowy mountains up the country ; but all the way 
from the sea up to these snowy ridges, the land was one field of 
snow, and it appeared to them a country of no advantages." They 
called this coimtry " Ilelluland," which signifies a place abounding 
in large, flat stones. The situation agrees with Labrador. 

The next land reached was "flat, and overgrown with woods, . . 
and was low toward the sea." This Leif called Markland, or Wood- 
land. It is considered the same as Xova Scotia. Xext, it is related, 
they hastened on board, and put to sea again, with the wind from the 
northeast, and were out for two days, and then made land. They sailed 
toward it, and came to an island, which lay on the north side of the 
land, where they disembarked to wait for good weather. When a 
change came, " they went on board, and sailed into a sound lying 
between the island and a cape that went out northward from the 
laud, and sailed westward past the cape. There was very shallow 
water in ebb tide, so that the ship lay dry ; and there was a long- 
way between the ship and the water. They were so desirous to get 
to the land, that they would not wait until their ship floated, but 
went to the land to a place where a river comes out of a lake. As 
soon as the ship was afloat, they took the boats, rowed to the ship, 
towed her up the river, and from thence into the lake, where they 
cast anchor, carried their beds out of the ship, and set up their 
tents. They resolved to put things in order for wintering there, 
and they built a large house." 

Thus simple is the Icelandic story of the discoveiy of America, 
though the Genoese performance, five centuries later, exhausted 
every resource of the Spanish tongue, and filled Europe with the 
most intense excitement. 

But where were the ^'ortlimen supjiosed tojbe when they landed 
and prepared to pass the winter \ Glancing at the previous narra- 

•7 



10 Columbus axtj the Geoghapbers of the Xostii. 

tive, we find that the last mentioned point of departnre M-as near 
the coast of Markhmd, or Xova Scotia. And after leaving that 
place, we find no situation that meets the requirements of the Saga 
until we reach Cape Cod. At all events, the place where they 
landed is said, in the narrative of Leif, to be two days' sail from 
Marklaud, while, in the account of another voyage, it is said that 
after leaving Markland they sailed a long time before reaching the 
settlement of Leif. But even holding the language of the account 
somewhat strictly, for M'hich there is no necessity, the two days 
would atford sufficient time to sail from the south end of K'ova 
Scotia to Cape Cod. With a fresh breeze, the yacht "Henrietta,'' 
in a summer day, coiild have raised land at the two points between 
sunrise and sunset. We may conclude, therefore, that the cape 
mentioned in Leifs accotmt was Cape Cod, and that the settlement 
was made in the vicinity of Mount Hope Bay. 

That the position was as far south as this point, is further indi- 
cated by tlie statement that " the counti-y appeared to them of so 
good a kind, that it would Hot be necessary to gather fodder for the 
cattle in winter. There was no frost in winter, and the gi'ass was 
not much withered." Here, of course, we have a slight exaggera- 
tion, as is the custom with colonists. Erie gave Greenland its new 
name, or revived an old, in order to atti'act people thither ; while 
Morton said, in his '• Xew English Canaan." that, on the consump- 
tive coast of Massachusetts, conghs and colds were unknown, and 
Popham reported nutmegs growing in Maine. 

But another paragraph of the Saga is nearer to the point, saying 
that, in this region, " day and night were more equal tlian in Green- 
land and Iceland ; for on the shortest day the sun was in the sky 
between Eyliarstad and the Dagmalstad ; " which means that the 
sun rose at half-past seven a.m., and set at half-past four p.m., fixing 
the latitude in about 41° i3' jV.^ The region referred to is known 
to be excep)tionally mild, and on the neighboring islands sheep and 
cattle were formerly left unhoused the year through. 

Many changes have taken place in the vicinity of Cape Cod, and 
the entire aspect of the coast and islands have undergone various 
transformations, yet the main outlines still appear, and correspond 
more or less with the delineations given in the various Sagas.^ 

' See Eafii's "Antiquitates Americanie," p. 436 ; " Mem. Antiq. du Nord," 
1836-7, p. 165 ; also, negative testimony in Cleaseby's " Icelandic Dictiouaiy," vol. i. 

^ See " Pre-Columbian Discovery of America by tbe Xorthmen," p. 39 ; " .Jour- 
nal of the American Geographical and Statistical Society," 18T0, p. 50 ; ■' Xew 
England Historical and Genealogical Register," vol. xviii. p. 37 : and " Massachusetts 
Historical Collections," vol. viii. ser. iii. pp. 72-93. 



COLVMinS AXD THE (tEHGRAPHERS OF THE XORTIL 11 

The Saga says that when the exjilorers liad eonduded to remain, 
Leif spokeas follows: "Now I will divide the crew into two divis- 
ions, and explore the country. Half shall stay at home and do the 
work, and the other lialf shall explore the land, but so that they do 
not go farther than they can come back in the evening, and that they 
do not wander from each other." And in the course of these ex- 
plorations one Tyrker, a German, found vines and grapes, which led 
them to call the country "Yinlaud the Good;" a name which ere 
long became known in Europe, and reached the ears of Adam of 
Bremen, prior to the year 10T.5, when on a visit to Sweden. This 
writer savs : " Besides, it was stated that a region had been discov- 
ered l)y many in that [western] ocean which was called Winland, 
because vines grow there .spontaneously, making excellent wine ; for 
that fruits not planted grow there of their own accord we know by 
the most certain testimony of the Danes."' 

After passing the winter and the following summer here, Leif 
■M\(\ his party prepared to return to Greenland. They accordingly 
loaded their ressel with timlier, filled their stern boat with dried 
"rapes, set sail, and, in due time, safely arrived at home. Thus it 
appears that on this first voyage they did little more that to Iniild a 
house, and learn something of the character and resources of the 
country. The whole story is told in the most simple and artless 
niauueV, without the slightest attempt to impress the reader with a 
sense of the greatness ot the performance ; which, however, is the 
wearisome practice of the eulogists of the " Great Genoese." With 
the bold, wild-eyed Northman, the matter of venturing forth upon 
" dark, unknown sea," was a very small thing. Columbus, before 
sailing upon such a voyage, would have sealed to him princely titles, 
and regal revenues and rewards ; but Leif goes forth, contented with 
the prospect of a load of wood ! And when Vinland the Good has 
been discovered, his friends in Greenland and Iceland hail him 
as " The Fortunate," not because he has demonstrated the existence 
of a new and wealthy land, but because, on his return, he has saved 
the crew of an Icelandic vessel wrecked near the Greenland coast. 
Clearly in all this there is no attempt to tickle either national or 
personal vanity at the expense of truth. 

' The very ancient Faroese ballad of Finu the Handsome also has reference to 
this Vinland"(see " Antiquitates Americanje," p. 319). That the region was not 
inaptly named, appears from the fact that wild ^ines are everywhere abundant on 
the coast, and gave the name in nimleru times to Martha's Vineyard. Farther 
along the coast westward they are found. Warden says. La vigne sanm'je gritnpe 
tie torn cCtt'H mr ks arbres. On the Island of Xaushon, last summer, the writer 
noticed some vines five or six inches thick climbing to the top of the tallest trees. 



12 COLr.MBUS AXD THE (tEOGRAPHERS OF TUE NORTH. 

After the return of Leif Ericson to Greenland, it does not appear 
that he had any disposition to engage in another voyage. Xot so, 
however, with his brother Thorwald, the account of whose vo^-age 
is given with characteristic simplicity. But the lack of space forbids 
the mention of pai'ticulars, and this, with the succeeding voyages, 
must be disposed of by giving the names of the leaders, and tlie 
dates of their respective explorations. Thorwald set out upon his 
voyage in the year 1002, and the vessel returned without him in 
1004. Thorwald was killed in a light with the natives, and buried, 
probably, on the shore of Massachusetts Bay. 

The next to go forth was Thorstein Ericson, who started on a voy- 
age to recover the body of his brother, biit, after many dangers and 
wanderings, he returned the following year without finding the place. 

Afterward comes the famous expedition of Thorfinn Karlsefne, 
who, in 1007, sailed to Yinland, where he spent about three years.^ 

The next expedition was led by a woman named Freydis, who 
formed a sort of partnership with two brothers, Helge and Fiun- 
boge. This expedition spent some time at "Leif's booths," in Yin- 
land, biit was ended by the woman's treachery and crime. 

In the year 1121, we read that Bishop Eric Upse went to seek 
for Vinlaud. Likewise a " new land " was found in 12S5, and voya- 
ges were made to the "new land" in 12SS-9. In 1357 one ship 
returned from Markland to Iceland with seventeen men, and another 
with eight men. These vessels probably went to Markland (Xova 
Scotia) for wood or timber, which was always in great request. 

In addition to these voyages, we may mention those alluded to in 
the so-called Minor Narratives; the first of which was the adven- 
ture of Are Marson, who, in 9S3, went to a land southwest from 
Ireland, called Great Ireland, or Hoitrammana-land. The accoiint 
of this is found in the Icelandic Doomsday Book, called Landanama. 
which is one of the most reliable of the Icelandic compositions. 

' As regards the name of this individual, the report has been circulated that 
it contained something highly jirophetic, and readers have been encouraged to 
surmise that the report of this voyage was concocted in order to make the name 
good. Yet the simple truth is, that the Icelandic efne was used to signify nothing 
more than that the individual bearing it had what is now known as " expecta- 
tions " (see Marsh's " Icelandic Grammar," p. 114). On the other hand, the voyage 
is the best attested of all, one manuscript having been compiled in Greenland in- 
dependent of the other, and yet being full of those undesigned coincidences to 
which reference has already been made. While in Vinland, Karlsefne's wife bore 
him a sou, the first child of European parentage known to have been born in New 
England. From this child, whose name was Suorre, was descended Thorlak, a 
bishop of Iceland, Professor Finzn Magnusseu, the eminent scholar, and Thorwold- 
sou, the sculptor. For the Genealogical Tables, see "Antiquitates Americanae." 



CoLl'Mlini AXD THE GeoG KAPIIEh'S OF THE XoiiTII. 13 

The second was tlie voyage of Biorii As!)randson, who is sup- 
posed ti) liave gone to the same place in the ycai' OOi). This inci- 
dent is reLated in tlie famous Eyrhyggia Saga, whicli contains the 
earh^ history of tiiat part of Iceland lying around Siuefells, on the 
west coast. The date of the Saga is not later than the thirteenth 
century. Its lively character rendered it highly interesting to the 
author of "Waverley," who amused himself by turning portions of 
a Latin version into English.' The same Saga gives an account of 
Gudleif Gudlaugson, who, in the year 1027, visited the place of 
Biorn's detention, and there saw him, he being then an old man. 
Some Icelandic geographical fragments will l)e mentioned in their 
proper connection as we proceed. 

The foregoing account of the voyages to America is necessarily 
brief, yet the essential points are given, Ijeing at the same time care- 
fully ciunpared witli taitliful copies made from the original manu- 
scripts. That these voyages to the American coast were actually 
performed, we have no right to doubt. Indeed, respectable authori- 
ties no longer doubt, though writers may discuss the particidar local- 
ities visited. The narratives themselves cannot be impeached.' That 

' See Weber's "Xortbern Antiquities." 

- It is true that in tliese writings we And some instances of tlie marvellous, 
which was to be exi)ected. There is nevertheless quite as little superstition mixed 
up with these chronicles as is to be found in French, Spanish, and English histor- 
ical compositions of a far later day. For instance, Karlsefne tells us that during 
his expedition to Vinland he one morning saw on the beach a" Uniped," whatever 
that may be, which fired an arrow, and injured one of the party. 

This Uniped has proved a sore offence to some, who suppose that because this 
fabulous creature is mentioned, the whole Saga must be a fabrication ; all the 
while forgetting that Henry Hudson, when on the coast in 1609, saw a veri- 
table " Mermaid," and that the Rev. Cotton Mather tells of one who, in 1683, saw a 
creature at a distance of only three feet from his boat, which had the head of a man 
and the tail of a c at. The ancient Sagas of Greenland have no marvels greater than 
those of the modern Greenland narratives ; for instance, like that of the missionary 
Hans Egede, who, when sailing to that country in 1634, saw " a most hideous sea- 
monster, which reared itself so high above the water that its head overtopped our 
mainsail, . . , instead of fins it had broad flaps like wings. Its body seemed to 
be overgro\vn with shell work. ... It was shaped like a serpent behind, . . . 
and when it dived it raised its tail above the water a whole ship's length." 

It is very curious in this connection to observe how those who carp at wonders 
in a Saga, written in a superstitious age, overlook the marvels that abound in all 
history, ancient and modern. The Spaniards of the eighteenth century, for in- 
stance, can draw upon fancy at will, but the Northmen must deny even the faint- 
est desire to give expression to the marvellous. And yet even in respect to this 
" Uniped" (Einfa'tingr , or one-foot), the writer is not so far out of the way, since 
Charlevoix tells us that a St. Malo captain saw in America men with "one leg and 
thigh : " and that a young Labrador girl, ca[)tured in 1717, told of those among her 
countrymen who had " onlv one leg." The Maine oiast, as earlv as the time of 



M COLVMBVS AXD THE GEOGRAPHERS OF THE JSfORTH. 

the Greenland colonists came tar south on the Atlantic coast is evi- 
dent, for the Yiulaud settlement was many da3-s' sail from Greenland. 
Besides, the climate of the place was evidently exceptionably mild, 
even in winter, which favors a region tempered by the influences of 
the Gulf Stream ; and all things point to Khode Island as the place 
most likelj' to have been selected by the colonists. 

But what shall we say of monumental remains ? In Greenland 
we have most abimdant monumental proof of the extended occupa- 
tion of the country by the Icelanders, but on the American coast we 
shall perhaps find no siich memorials. On the shores of Massachu- 
setts and Ehode Island, very great changes have taken place, what 
was once dry land being now, in many cases, covered by the sea. 
Kecent geological investigations on the western coast of North 
America reveal the fact that the land, to the extent of several de- 
grees ol longitude, has been swept away. Something of the same 
kind, though on a smaller scale, has taken place around Cape Cod, 
the wreck of Avhose ancient territory is seen in the dangerous shoals ■ 
that stretch many miles out into the boiling sea. On such a change- 
ful shore, the proofs of early occupation by Icelandic navigators 
would soon pass awa}-. 

The famous Old MiU at Newport has indeed been relied on by 
some, who supposed it was a watch-tower of the Northmen ; while 
others, like Professor Rafn, of Copenhagen, have surmised "that it 
had a sacred destination, and that it belonged to some monastery, or 
Christian place of worship in Vinland," like similar structures in 
Greenland. Still, such surmises are hardly satisfactory ; though, at 
the same time, the opponents of the theory are not much more con- 
clusive in their arguments, which would make this structure identi- 
cal with "Arnold's Mill." 

In the same way we should exercise caution in accepting an 
exclusive Icelandic character for the inscription on the celebrated 
Dighton Rock ; while clearly, in this connection, the Portsmouth 
and Tiverton Rocks, much less the Monhegan " Inscription," can 
hardly be considered at all. The antiipiar}* may potter over the 
nature-wrought inscription on the face ot a ledge in that foggy isle 
where the romantic Captain John Smith, in 1613, set up his tishing- 

Karlsefne, appears to liave been as famous for the " Uniped " as Nahant was once 
for its sea-serpent. This allusion to the Uniped in the narrative of Karlsefne, if 
it has any weight at all, justifies our belief in the authenticity of the Sagas, indi- 
cating, as it does, that the writer was simply true to his age. Egede's " Green- 
land," p. 85 ; Crantz's " Greenland," vol. iii. p. IIG ; Shea's " Charlevoix," vol. i. p. 
12-1-.5 

' "Memoirs dea Antiquaries du Nord," 1838-9, p. 377. 



COLVMIIVS AM) THE GEOGRArilERS OF THE NoRTU. 15 

Ijootlis, and tlie jidut may apostrophize the " Skeleton in Arnior," 
and force it to declare : 

" I was a Viking old ! 
My deeds, tlioiigh manifold. 
No Scald in sont;' has told," etc., etc. ; 

yet those who want solid proof will seek it elsewhere, and, above 
all, in the Saigas themselves, whose internal evidence is worth a 
field full of Dighton rocks and armor-cased bones. 

Bnt did the Northmen leave no maps ? It does not appear that 
they left any of very definite value. These hardy voyag-ers to 
Yinland sailed before geograj^hy and navigation M'ere reduced to 
exact sciences. And thej' were not ambitious. They cared little for 
the study of geogi-aphical pursuits. Yet the Yinland Sagas afford geo- 
graphical data which modern investigators like Rafn have formu- 
lated with much judgment, as may be seen by the majis which 
accompany his work. Still, in 1570, the Icelander, Sigurdus 
Stephanius, drew up a map of the North which gave a portion of 
the Atlantic coast ; and concerning this map Tovfceus says, in his 
Gronlandia Antiqva, that it was probably taken from ancient 
sketches.^ At all events, it was from ancient data, and shows the 
Pi'omontoruim Vinlandia, which corresponds, in its general out- 
line, with Cape Cod. The map, too, was drawn at a time when 
this remarkable section of New England did not appear in any 
English map of the coast,'' a fact which indicates that the modern 
student of the Saga does not draw largely upon his fancy when he 
finds a region described corresponding with that remarkable cape.^ 
Yet, with the unimpeachable Sagas themselves in the hands of the 
reader, we leave him to form his own conclusions with respect to 
the precise regions that the Northmen explored, and turn next to 
consider the connection which may possibly exist between their 
voyages and those of Columbus. 

In doing this, we are quite aware of the tact that the probaJnli- 
ties of the case have Ijeeu considered before; and therefore the 
writer will keep as tar as possible from the beaten track, and 
present some facts and considerations which may, perhaps, cause 

' Delineationem, /umc suam ex antiquitatibus Islandicis desumpsisse videtur. 

' The first map of this coast, either by the English or French, marked by any 
tolerable degree of exactness, was that of Champlain, who visited the cape in 
1002, and soon after published a map of the region in his " Nouvelle France." 

^ On this point, see "The Northmen in Maine," etc., p. 84; and Dr. Kohl, 
vol. i. Maine Hist. Societv, X. S, 



16 Columbus asd the Geographees of the North. 

tlie subject to appear in a ditierent light. In doing this, how- 
ever, it will be projier to state some things that have been urged by 
others. 

As is well known to many readers, in the year liTT Christopher 
Columbus made a voyage to Iceland, whither Bristol traders at 
that time often resorted. And Finn Magnussen has called atten- 
tion to the fact that he arrived at Hualtiord, on the south coast of 
Iceland, at a time when the harlaor was most frequented, and when 
Bishop Magnus was most likely to have visited the neighboring 
churches. And ha^-ing, during the previous seven years, Ijeen 
abbot of the monaster}- of Helgefell, the place where the most 
ancient Icelandic Sagas were composed, and where they were 
prol)ably preserved, he must have been well acquainted with the 
voj'ages to Greenland and Vinland ; especially as that was the very 
district from whence some of the most noted men sailed. That 
Columbus met Bishop Magnus is not at all unlikely, while, in that 
case, it is probable that he made the explorer acquainted with the 
fact that in the distant west there lay another land. 

We are made acquainted with this voyage of 1477 by Columbus 
himself, who wrote to his son Ferdinand that he " sailed a hundred 
leagues beyond the island Thule. ... To this island, which is as 
large as England, the English, especially those from Bristol, go with 
their merchandise. At the time I was there, the sea was not 
frozen."' A ciirious confirmation of this last statement seems to 
appear in the fact that an old Icelandic document records as a 
striking tact that, in March of that year, " no snow was then seen 
upon the ground." 

That this voyage was actually performed we cannot doubt, and 
we can agree with Fiini Magnussen where he says : •' If Columbus 
had been informed of the most important discoveries of the North- 
men, it is much easier to understand his firm belief in the possibility 
of the rediscovery of a western country, and his great zeal in 

' Major's " Letters of Columbus." The general subject is illustrated by an old 
poem on " Tbe Polide of Keeping the Sea," given by Hakluyt, vol. i. p. 201, 
which belongs to the middle of the iifteenth century. It runs ; 
" Of Island to write is little nede, 

Save of Stockfish : yet forth sooth, indeed. 

Out of Bristowe, and costes many one. 

Men have practiced by needle and stone 

Thider wardes within a litle while. 

Within twelve yere, and without perill 

Gon and come, as men were wont of old. 

Of Scarborough unto the costes cold." 



Columbus Ayo the Geoghapiiehs of tue Xonrn. 17 

carrying it out ; aud wc may eoiieeive liis siiLsoqnent discovery of 
America partly as a continuation and consequence of the transac- 
tions and achievements of the old Scandinavians." 

But supposing this position abandoned, as will not, however, 
soon be the case, have we no other ground for supposing Columbus 
to have been influenced by Scandinavian knowledge? "What, for 
instance, led him abroad so far in the year 1477 1 Humbolt, who 
frankly conceded the authenticity of the Icelandic Sagas, says : 
"Columbus might have known of the expeditions of the Noi-thmen 
to Yinland or Di'ogeo quite well. All this information might not 
Lave appeared to him to be connected with his intentions. He 
searched the route to India and to the country of the spices." Yet 
this statement is by no means conclusive, and we are still left to ask 
why he was abroad in that year. One writer says that he was- 
endeavoring to ascertain the size of the earth. This, however, is 
likewise conjecture ; and, possibly, we may have nothing but con- 
jecture to the end. Still, we may remind the reader of this fact, 
which is also accepted by the critical mind of Humbolt, that, in the 
previous year, one John Skolnus, a Polish navigatoi-, in the service 
of Christian I. * of Denmark, actually made a voyage to the Gren- 
land. It is declared that he sailed past Norway, Greenland, aud 
Finland, and landed upon the shores of Labrador, or Estotiland.^ 
Gomera also says of Labrador, that " the men of Norway have been 
there too, with the pilot, John Skolny." ^ 

So, likewise, Ivunstman says that this is " a voyage hitherto too 
little noticed." He quotes Gomera, who had "obtained from Olaus 
of Gotha much knowledge about the condition of Norway aud her 
shipping;" and observes that we may "thank him for the informa- 
tion given in his description of Labrador, that the men from 
Norway and the pilot, John Skolnus, . . . had visited there." 
Hence, in the map of Michael Lok, based by him upon a map drawn 
at Seville, and presented to Henry VIII. by Yerrazano, a large 
tract of land, apparently the same as that known as Baffin's Land, 
is mai-ked " Jac Scolvum, Groesland."^ 

The reality of this voyage will doubtless be conceded, except by 
that wellnigh extinct class who have heretofore fancied that all 
pre-Cohimbian voyages were altogether impossible and absurd, and 

' Both Humbolt and Major make the mistake of connecting this event with 
Christian II. Christian I. reigned from 1448 to 1481. 

" See Wytfliet's Ptolemaicae Augmentum, ed. 1603, p. 102 ; Pontamis, p. TG3. 
' " Historia de las Indias," ed. 1553, chap, xxsvii. 
' See Hakluyt's "Divers Voyages," 1583. 
3 



IS COLVMBUS AXD THE GeOGHAPIIERS OF THE NORTH. 

who ciu'iously argue that this jiarticular voyage of Kohius could uot 
have taken place, for the reason that the archives of Denmark, 
originally imjjerfect, and now more than ever mipaired, contain no 
allusion to the subject. A weighty argument indeed ! 

The voyage of Skoluus, however, being conceded, and this 
voj'age having taken jjlace only the year previous to that of Colum- 
bus, it is probable that the latter knew of it. This knowledge he 
may have gained before setting out, or at Hualfiord, in Iceland, 
where he touched, and whither John of Kolnus probably went 
during his northern exploration. At all events, Columbus, in this 
year, 1477, sailed three hundred miles beyond Iceland, pushing 
fairly into American waters, and harely escaping the rediscovery of 
the new world. 

It would be interesting to pause here for the purpose of specii- 
lating upon the result of what might have followed such an event. 
Peter Martyr, in 1.511, exclaimed, " To the south ! to the south ! 
they that seek riches must not go into the cold and frozen north;'" 
while, in 1-177, the mind of Europe might have regarded with much 
less favor the coasts of the frigid zone ; and yet, if Columbus had 
pushed on a few hours longer, the hills of Greenland would have 
stood out to view, and the voyage might ultimately have given the 
new world a civilization more or less difi'eriug from the present, by 
the projection of Old Spain in latitudes along her own pai'allels. 
But Columbus, though fevered by dreams of discovery, retreated, — 
possibly only an hour too soon! Whv did he turn liack?^ But 
then we must not forget cne onginai iuquny m regard to tne 
reasons that first led him on ; for there were other agents besides 
Bishop Magnus and Kolnus who may have had a share in the 
work. 

Foiu- years previous to this voyage to the north, he had received 
a map from the Florentine astronomer, Toscanelli.^ This map can- 
not be found, and yet it had a powerful influence in shaping his 
views, and in leading him to the conclusion that the route to the 
Indies M-as unobstructed toward the west. But what did this map 
contain ? "Was there nothing concerning Greenland ? This is very 

' Decade vii. cliap. iii. 

^ Perhaps lie was not the commander, and sailed in a subordinate character 
with some rival, whose story is yet to be told. 

^ Those interested in this class of studies will be glad to learn that the long- 
wished for Latin text of Toscanelli's letter, communicated to Columbus, has been 
found. It is given, with other curious and rare matter, in the appendix to " Biblio- 
theaca Americana Vetustissima," by Harrisse, printed by Drugulin, at Leipsic,and 
published by Tross, Paris, 1ST2. 



COLVMBUS AND TUE (i EOa KAI']IEIiS OF THE NuliTH. 19 

possible, since Greenland was evidently known in the very city of 
Toscanelli, where a map is now preserved, bearing the date of 14-17,' 
in which Greenland is mentioned. Adam of Bremen, in his visits 
to Denmark, learned of what the Is'ortlunen had achieved, and 
doubtless imparted the knowledge to many others. Also, it is an 
interesting fact that Gudrid, wife of Karlsefne, who was in Vinland 
three years, and in Greenland for a very much longer period, after 
her return to Iceland, " went South " on a pious tour, which means 
that she went to Rome. But the fact that Greenland ai)])cars in the 
Florentine map" of 1417 is significant, notwithstanding the iact that 
in all these old maps Greenland is represented as a projection of 
Eui'ope. 

But there is another map, that of the Zeno Brothers, which 
affords most striking evidence of the possession of knowledge con- 
cerning the new world, by persons in Europe, and especially in 
Venice, where the Zeno family lived. It is true that the authen- 
ticity of this map has been questioned;^ yet a careful study of its 
contents shows that its materials must have existed prior to the year 
1400, even though it was not published and finished in all respects 
before lo5S. 

In several particulars the map is very striking. The territoi-y of 
GreeTiland is drawn with a fidelit}' that is remarkable, showing that 
the information was very ancient and exact; for in 1558, when the 

■ On a Portulani, published by the Society of Naucy, 1835, Greenland lilie- 
wise appears. Tlie date of the Portulani is given as 1437. Possibly it was taken 
from the Italian maji of 1417. 

^ Kunstman says that the map was in the Pitti Palace; but the writer caused 
inquiry to be made, and learned, tlirough the agency of a correspondent and a lib- 
eral priest, that it was in another library of the same city. See Lelewell's " Moyen 
Age," vol. iv. 

^ Among those who have criticised the Zeno map is Captain Zahrtman, In the 
Journal of the Royal Geograjjhical Society, 1833, p. 109. He says that there is a 
map in the University Library of Copenhagen, in which Greenland is laid down 
as in Benedetto Bardorne's " Isolaria," and whose names agree with those of 
Zeno to a certain extent, though his account of the map is not satisfactory. Cap- 
tain Zahrtman cannot tell the age of the Copenhagen map, and yet jumps at the 
conclusion that the Zeno map was copied from it, of which there is no i)roof. On 
the other hand, this Copenhagen map, according to Zahrtman, shows a modem 
Dutch element. But more than this, a diligent search made by the officials at the 
Copenhagen Library, fails to show that any such map exists ; though our present 
Minister at the Court of Denmark has very kindly aided tlie writer by his pers<mal 
attention to the subject. The notion that Zeno was indebted to Ortelius for his 
information about Greenland will appear absurd to those who examine the map 
of that geographer, which represents Greenland as an island. For a reply to 
some points of Zahrtman's article, see Folsom's essay in the " North American 
Review," July, 1838. 



20 Columbus and the Geographers of the N'oeth. 

map was pulilislied, sucli a performance would not have proved pos- 
sible. Moreover, its teacliiiigs were in direct opposition to wliat 
had long been set forth. As regards the Greenland settlements, 
and their situatiim, the map makers, both before and after the date 
of 1558, knew little or nothing, and consequently placed the settle- 
ments on the east coast, where there were never any inhabitants. 
In 1558, when the Zeno chart was published, the general knowledge 
of Greenland had reached what was perhaps its deepest point of 
obscuration ; while in 1668 Thorlacius, the modern Icelander, who 
failed to understand the ancient Sagas, drew up the worst chart of 
Greenland ever offered to the ]>ublic. He was followed in his poor- 
est features by Mercator and Ortelius; and in 1860, his greatest 
fiction was alluded to in a pulilication of the American Antiquarian 
Society as ufact. Yet in 1558 the Zeno map boldly declared its 
uncompromising dissent. This was because it was compiled from 
material accumulated hj those who had more or less personal 
knowledge of the conformation of the country, and the situation of 
the towns. Therefore we say that, in the day of Columbus, this 
Zeno chart indicated the existence of valuable knowledge, which the 
Genoese may have received from Italy, or from some other country', 
prior to his voyage of 1477 toward the Greenland coast. 

But another indication of the diffusion of knowledge respecting 
land at the west is found in the Chronicle of Ivar Bardsen, a 
steward of one of the Bishops of Greenland. This chronicle, which 
exerted such a large influence upon the cartography of Greenland, 
gives an account of the settlements, the names of the districts, and 
the resoui'ces of the country. That this work was known in Europe 
at an early period is very clear, as several distinct versions are now 
in existence. Curioi;sly enough, one vei-sion fell into the hands 
of Henry Hudson, and this copy is given by Purchas in " His Pil- 
grimes." It is entitled, — 

"A Treatise of Iver Boty a Gronlander, translated out of the 
N'orsh Language into High Dutch in the yeere 1560. And after 
out of High Dutch, into Loto Dutch, hy WiLLi.vii Baeentson of 
Amsterdam, aforesaid. The same copie in High Dutch is in the 
hands of Iodocvs Hondfvs, which I heme scene. And this was 
translated out of Low Dutch hy Master William Steee, J/ar- 
chent, in the yeere 1608 for the use of me Henrie Hudson. 
William Baeentson's Boohe is in the hand- of Master Petee 
I'lantivs, vjho lent the same to 7)ie." 

The " jSTorsh " original of this particular translation, which varies 
in no essential respect from the version printed by the Northern 



COLUMIiVS AXO THE GeOORAPIIERS OF THE JSTORTIl. 21 

antiquaries, was brouglit troiu the Faroe Islands, " lying between 
Shot-lant [Shetland] and Island," and was found " in an old reckon- 
ing Booke, written aboue one hundred yceres agoe." And the 
hundredth year commenced at the time when the manuscript was 
brought into Germany, which was on or hefore the year 1560, when 
it was translated from the "Korsh" into "High Dutch." This 
shows that the narrative of Bardsen was known on the continent* 
prior to the year 1400, or seventeen years before Columbus so nar- 
rowly escaped seeing the Greenland coast. 

Such are some of the evidences which indicate that land at the 
west was known among Europeans pi-ior to the voyage made by 
Columbus. But this knowledge was clearly increased by the ditiii- 
sion of information at a subsequent period, as appears to be the 
case in connection with an edition of the Cosmography of Ptolemy, 
entitled Ptolemacoe Cosmogixq^^da, printed at Ulmaj in 1482, ten 
years before Columbus foiled on his great western voyage, during 
which he discovered the AVest India Islands. This edition of 
Ptolemy was edited by the learned Benedictine, Nicholas Denis, 
and was dedicated to Pope Paul II. In the dedication, the editor 
says that he contents himself with giving the maj) of Greenland, 
simply because he does not wish to interrupt the text of Ptolemy ; 
which indicates that something was already accessible, and that the 
letter-press might be excused. It is probable that he knew of Bard- 
sen's nari-ative, which was brought into Germany, and translated, 
moi-e than twenty-two years before. 

In this edition of Ptolemy, Greenland is laid down both upon 
the map of the world and a separate map (Tabula rnoderna Prxtssie,, 
Livonia, etc.). Both maps were executed by John Von Arnsheim, 
one of the oldest known artists in that line, and an engraver whose 
skill earned for him the name of the Carver.^ That a man like 
Columbus could be ignorant of the existence of such a publication, 
is, perhaps, too much to suppose. By an examination of the map, 
we find that Greenland is there represented as an extension of the 
peninsula of Sweden -and Norway. This was simply the result of 
the misapplication of the Icelandic narratives which described the 
country. The Zeno maps, dating back to the year 1400, did not 
make this mistake, since Greenland, though connected with Europe, 



' The Icelander, Bicern von Skardfa, speaks of a Hamburg sailor who about 
this time was known as Jon Greenlander, on account of his adventures in those 
seas. 

' See Falkensteen's " Hist, of the Art of Printing," Leipsic, 1840, 4 s. 377 ; and 
Nagler's " Diet, of Terms," Bd. xv. s. 396, Munich, 184.'>-S. 



22 Columbus and the Geogeaphehs of the North. 

is there placed in its proper relation, having land lying at the south, 
called " Drogeo," which is synonymous with the Vinland of Leif 
and Karlsefne. The Zeno map, indeed, shows Greenland as remotely 
connected by other countries with Europe; yet this is in accord- 
ance with the Icelandic geography of that time, which supposed 
that there was a continuous belt of laud along the regions of Nova 
Zembla and Spitzbergen, an assumption that modern enterprise has 
not extinguished. 

Still, it may be urged that, notwithstanding the existence of land 
was already indicated south of Greenland, Coliunbus, if influenced 
by the Icelandic authorities, would have sailed northward in the 
track of the old na\-igators, whose course from K'orway to Green- 
land is laid down in Bardsen's narrative. Yet the geographical 
information derived would come through descriptions of the Ice- 
landic voyages, and not from imperfect maps ; and to these, there- 
fore, let us tiirn, remembering that he had once, in 1477, already 
tried the Old Northern courses. 

What, then, do the geographical descriptions aflii'm ? In the Ice- ' 
landic woilc called Gripla (iliscellany) there is a description, so 
called, of the whole earth. "We read : " North of Norway is Finn- 
mark. The coast bends thence to the northeast, and then toward 
the east, until it reaches Permia, which is tributary to Kussia. From 
Permia desert tracts extend to the north, reaching as far as Green- 
land. Beyond Greenland, southward, is Ilelluland [Labrador] ; 
beyond that is Markland [Nova Scotia], from thence it is not tar to 
Vinland,' which some men are of the opinion extends toward 
Africa." In another p)art of the same work we are told again that 
" some think" that Yinland extends " or goes out to Africa." 

That this opinion was based on early explorations toward those 
regions there can be little, if any, doubt. And when we turn to the 
inoderu majj, we see that the opinion appears strikingly borne out 
by the fact that the coast-line of the new world deflects eastward to 
within twenty degrees of the African continent. And, acting on 
this information, after having already pushed north by the way of 

' Here we are reminded of what Bancroft said with reference to the subject, 
when alluding to the fact that Sturleson, in his history of the " Kings of Norway," 
made no allusion to the discovery of Vinland. Bancroft says that the Icelander 
Sturleson, who wrote in pre-Columbian times, " could hardly have neglected the 
discovery of a continent, if such an event had taken j)lace," ignoring the fact that 
the kings of Norwaj' had nothing to do with the voyages, and also that the Ice- 
landers never pretended to have discovered a new continent, but simply told what 
they knew about the continuation of the old one, which was all that Columbus 
himself aimed at, he having died in the belief that there was no new continent. ''' 



COLTMBUS ASn THE GEOGRAPHERS OF THE JVoRTH. 23 

Iceland, Columbus might uatuiviUy have sailed in the westerly 
course from Spain, weigliinij, amongst other pnihahillties, that of 
striking the land which the Northmen reported as stretching, from 
a point south of Greenland, out into the ocean toward the African 
coast. 

Such, then, are some of the indications of that knowledge which 
existed in Europe during the pre-Columbian times ; and such is the 
too inadequate expression of the reasons which lead us to believe 
that Columl)us was, in very impoi'taut respects, indebted to the old 
geographers of the Xortli, by whose suggestions he may have been 
'inspired to sail in search of what, when found, he held to be, not a 
'new continent, but the remote bounds of the Asiatic Avorld. 

In this article no account has been made of what are apparently 
independent sources of knowledge, like that probably found in 
" The information gathered from Portuguese and Spanish pilots 
concerning western land," ' whose information may, in turn., have 
been derived from JSTorthern explorers like those led by Kolnus, 
from Denmark, in 14:76. Yet here we rest the discussion, making 
no apology for examining the claims of Columbus, since the time 
has happily come when writers can seek to do justice to the earlier 
geographers and navigators, without detracting from the claims of 
the Genoese, whose real merits do not always enter into estimates of 
his character, or dignity traditional admiration. 

' T,as Casas says that lip sn-\v a work writw-u Ijv Columbus himself on this sub- 
ject. Set- " Notes on Columbus" ^p. So), privately, and iu A.stor l^ibraiy. 



M UN SELLS PUBLICATIONS. 

WORKS BY THE REV. B. F. DeCOSTA. 



NOTICES OF THE PRESS. 

I.— THTv PRKrf>l,.T:Miji.vN DISCOVERY OF AMEItlCA CYTHE NORTH- 

11 c'd bj- Trunslalions from the Icelandic Sagas. Edited with 
' General Introduction. 8v(). Price, $3.00. 

s work may be estimated, when it is considered how much controversy and 

^^y I 'Htt of rhc- subject from the method adopted by previous authors 

i h.i.- 11 '■ ' "1 aflortts ye'icral sutisfactiou as a useful addition to liistorical 

ir.'. . . , li MOthiiijjf, and c*>nceals nothtnj;. lie renders the old writings as 

\. re recorded.'* '' 

Tm.s Book is a verv siiib;ii.ar ,ind valuaiii'r addition to .American liierKiuro; singular for its 
sal'j' ct and its substance, and valnalile for the new" aud clear lif,'ht it tlirows upon the f|uestion, 
Who first disrovepd America' ... Ho has mertrrf well of American scholarthiij.' — r/is 
Church Qiiarterty JiLi'ifii. 

' A most valuable addition ti' the literature of the subject, and is mot* s'tractively issued." 



If.— SAILING DIRECTIONS OF HE>)KY HUDSON. Prepared for bi.5 use 
in IGOO, from tlie old Danisli of Ivar Bardsen, with a\i Introduction and 
Notes ; also a Dissertation on the Discovery of tlie Hudson River. 8vo. 
Price, $1.50. 

•• It opens a new chapter of Pre-C'olamliian history, ecclesiastical and secular, and reviews the 
annals of the old (ireenljmd Churcii. which were written in Icelandic by the steward of one of the 
Bit-hops. . . . It is interesting to notice in the quaint directions, on almost every pai;e. how 
many proofs there are of the existence of an Established Church in various parts of (jreeiiland.— 
Th^ Church Jitriew. 

"TheXoiesof Mr. DcCosta evince a thorough acquaintance with that period of American 
His tory . " — Church Journal. 

"TiiE work l)eforcns does honor to Mr. DcCosta, showing his devotion to historic research. 
The writer seems disposed to take nothing for granted, but to follow evidence wherever it may 
lead him. Such labors are vastly more valuable than the superficial expositions of some ardent 
enthusiast." — Historic- Geneaiogk'td lie(jiiter. 

*' R Ev. B. F. DeCosta. already known by his r^t'^^rc^^ contributions to our early history, has now 
placed iu possession of its students, a contribution of unique value." — Rtcorder and Congregation- 
atiit. 



III.— THE NORTHMEN IN MAINE: A Critical Examination of Views 
expressed in Connection witli the Subject. By Dr. J. H. Koul, in Vol. I. of 
the New Series of tlie Maine Historical Society. To wliich are added 
Criticisms on other portions of the Work, and a Chapter on the Discovery 
of Massachusetts Bay. 8vo. Price, $1.50. 

" Ai.i. minute and careful students of the early days, and events therein referred to. will desire 
and nied this volume, which docs credit to its author's thoroughness and erudition." — Boston 
Recorder. 

" \Vk called attention, some time ago, to the valu.able historic studies of Rev. B. F. DeCosta ; 
and we now take pUmsure iu welcoming a fresh evidence of his intidligent zeal, in one of those 
choice specimens of typognijtliy wliich. every now and then, emanate from the press of ,Toel Munsell 
of .Mbany. The reader will lind it at)le an<l interesting, and admit that the true historical spirit is 
maintainerl throughout . Ki-aders will be alliactt-d by the supplementary chapter on the Discovery 
of Massachusetts Bay. containing some facts and quotations tiiat throw fresh light on that remote 
Imt attractive theme." — Boston Transa-ipt. 

" This is a very learned and finished monogram on a subject of deep interest. ... A model 
of ex<pnsitc paperand typography." — Prinreton {quarterly Iiitieu\ 

" Mr. DeCost.4. who has within a few yi-ars made some valuable contributions to the historical 
literature of our countrj'. discusses, in an able manner, in the work before us. sevtM'al interesting 
points in the history of 'the discovery of the Eastern Coast of North Xxm^'tic^." —IRstoric- Genealo- 
gical Bff/ifUr. 

TiiEsK valuable works have a special bearing upon the early religious condition of .America. 
Published bv 

JOEL MUNSELL, 



Albany, New York. 



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